


Dive (Part II)

by fictorium, InspectorBoxer, sgvirtualseason



Series: Supergirl Virtual Season [2]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Aliens, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bisexual Female Character, Canon-Typical Violence, Collaboration, Cover Art, F/F, Femslash, Gifset, Girls with Guns, Guns, Hostage Situations, Journalism, Kidnapping, Lesbian Character, Peril, Rescue Missions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-12
Updated: 2017-06-16
Packaged: 2018-11-13 10:32:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 16,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11183277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fictorium/pseuds/fictorium, https://archiveofourown.org/users/InspectorBoxer/pseuds/InspectorBoxer, https://archiveofourown.org/users/sgvirtualseason/pseuds/sgvirtualseason
Summary: And here episode 1 continues from where we left you on Friday...





	1. Act VI

Thanks to @supergaysupercat ([tumblr](http://supergaysupercat.tumblr.com) | [ao3](http://archiveofourown.org/users/octoplods/pseuds/SupergaySupercat)) for more art hitting us right in the feels. Hit up the comments here or [tumblr](http://supergaysupercat.tumblr.com/ask) to let them know you loved the art!


	2. Act VI

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cat’s time is running out. A valuable source at Cadmus makes contact. The Danvers sisters take their investigation to the streets of National City.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title gifs created by @xy0009 ([ao3](http://archiveofourown.org/users/xy0009) | [tumblr](http://xy0009.tumblr.com))

Cat watched herself fall, over and over again.

The screams must have been overlaid for effect. She tried to tell herself she could hear the trickery in the audio, but with each replay her heart began to beat in triple time. Closing her eyes offered no relief; it just brought back the memory of the ground hurtling up to meet her.

No. Those screams couldn’t have been from her. When Cat thought back to that moment, she didn’t remember screaming, or the sound of her own voice. Her soundtrack to that fall, to what seemed like certain death, was Supergirl’s drug-induced series of taunts. _Arrogant. Self-serving. Mean-spirited._ Over and over like an accelerating drumbeat. Further confirmation, though Cat wouldn’t realize it until three hours and six scotches later, that Kara was the girl in the cape. Supergirl didn’t know those things about her, but her assistant certainly did.

Try as she might, Cat couldn’t conjure up Kara’s sunny smile or even an unfortunate cardigan. All she saw was that brattish expression, that insolence and contempt that stared Cat down before tossing her over the balcony like a television from a rock star’s hotel room. In the first sessions, she’d been able to turn her head away from the footage, force her mind to somewhere more pleasant, but this had gotten under her skin.

 _Please, Kara,_ she thought, screaming the words inside her own head. _I can’t hold this back much longer._

At last, as though summoned by the plea, a kinder image of Kara came to mind. Bold in fuchsia, clicking her fingers in warning as she begged Cat’s forgiveness for contacting Adam, defiant in trying to reunite mother and son. It was enough. Cat’s memories finally pulled back from the fall, cycling through happier ones instead. The first time Carter picked up the newspaper and pretended to read it. Adam talking toddler babble into her hairbrush, imitating her radio show. Watching them sleep in their cots, years apart.

Finally, that gave way to Supergirl hovering above Cat’s balcony, hands on her hips and a soft, beaming smile on her face.

_You inspired me._

Cat opened her eyes, staring and unseeing. She could do this. Just a while longer.

***

A clipboard went flying, slapped off the platform in frustration. It missed Jeremiah by inches as it landed somewhere behind him, clattering on the concrete floor. He said nothing as Lillian stalked around the tank, glaring daggers at Cat.

“How is she still resisting?” Lillian snapped. “It’s been two full days.”

“Media is what she does,” Jeremiah said matter-of-factly. “She sees through the façade better than most.” He risked a glance at Cat, frowning at the way her gaze was fixed and staring, but he knew she saw nothing, trapped in the thrall of the Mercy. Despite his best efforts to lessen or dilute the doses, Cat was wearing down. She had another day at most before Lillian broke her, or looked closely enough to see his interference. He couldn’t let that happen.

Lillian’s phone buzzed softly, and she removed it from her lab coat pocket, smiling as she read the message. “Well, well. Looks like the NCPD have been busy.”

“The Infernian?” Jeremiah guessed.

“Mmm.” Lillian slipped the phone back in her pocket. “Our beloved president is safe for now, until she’s no longer useful.” She glanced at Cat before her eyes cut back to Jeremiah, her gaze cruel and cold. “We put in an order with our friendly captain in the Science Division. Expect a delivery tonight, Doctor.”

Jeremiah nodded in compliance, unsettled and sickened by all that the order entailed, but depending on who made that delivery, maybe he finally had a way to save Cat.

Sighing in exasperation, Lillian shook her head. “I’m going to meet my husband for dinner. Let the current session run its course, then hydrate her. Don’t want her dying on us after all this trouble.” Lillian didn’t stick around for a response, walking away.

Jeremiah waited for the lackeys to follow. After a few minutes, they did. He pretended to tweak some dials on the machine a minute longer, making sure no one doubled back. Satisfied he was as alone as he was going to get, he moved across the room to adjust the leads running out of Cat’s glass cage. Close enough to whisper where she might hear.

“I’m going to try to get you some help, Ms. Grant. Someone who stands a chance of saving you. Someone they won’t be looking for.”

Cat blinked slowly, the only outward sign Jeremiah might have been heard.

***

Maggie checked her mirrors one last time, eager to get out of the car before Scorcher stirred, but not careless enough to rush. The bullet hole had dried up quickly at least, Infernians having enhanced healing powers.

The way Supergirl had disapproved of the quick takedown shot, the thought that she might suspect Maggie’s reasons for wanting the captive silenced, was a gravel layer on top of Maggie’s own guilt at having taken the shot in the first place. The cost of keeping secrets got higher every time.

She ran her thumb over the screen of her phone, contemplating as she had at every stoplight on the way over. It would be so easy, in theory. _Hey Danvers, cells are full. This one’s yours after all._ Ten seconds to say it, twenty minutes to make the drive. No way a diehard like Alex Danvers went home after a raid like that. She’d be right back in a secret bunker somewhere, going after the next threat. Maybe that was what a real partner was like, someone who put themselves in enough danger to get hurt in her place. A hell of an upgrade from whichever temporary babysitter Maggie’s boss had stuck her with every few months, just to make sure she didn’t get too far out of line.

Maggie shoved her phone back into her pocket. Not this time, and not any other time either. Her captain was a mouth-breathing pain in her ass, but he’d made one thing crystal clear the first time he sent her to hand a prisoner over to Cadmus. She’d been chosen – no doubt because any complaint she made would be written off as another queer feminist with an agenda – and when she’d refused, her reward had been a picture of her aunt Sophia slapped down on the table.

“You make your drops,” he told her. “Or your beloved guardian might forget to look both ways crossing the street.”

Maggie went across the table at him for that, but he’d ducked her with ease, tutting at her temper like it was the funniest thing he’d seen all day.

“And as for that bar full of freaks you hang out in,” he continued. “Keep Cadmus’s order sheet filled, and they won’t have to go in there one night and clean the place out. We give the science bods what they want, the rest of the uninvited guests get to stick around. You got me?”

She had resisted at first. Deliberately screwed up the drop and let an alien go. Three hours of thinking she’d gotten away with it, before being jumped right outside her apartment. She came to in the hospital the next morning, M’gann at her side, with two broken ribs and a dozen missed calls from her aunt about her car being torched. Maggie had taken the hint.

The Cadmus handoffs were always fraught, but usually over quickly if they sent out enough guards. Sure enough, three men were approaching before Maggie got her door all the way open.

“Backseat,” Maggie instructed with a jerk of her head. “I’ll just give the doc the details.” Compared to the Rambo squad, his was an almost friendly face, and she went willingly when he motioned for her to join him.

“Boss is back,” one grunted after her. “Don’t keep the doc out long. She might get an itchy trigger finger.”

 _She._ Maggie’s heart skipped a beat. It was the first time she’d ever heard anything about the person who was behind Cadmus. Now she had a sliver of intel, even if she didn’t know what to do with it.

Maggie headed for the wire fence and the one section pulled back to grant access. By the time she left it would be sealed again, no sign that the seemingly deserted scrubland beyond had ever been disturbed. Cadmus knew how to stay undetected.

“One Infernian,” Maggie announced to the doctor, eyeing him as he fiddled with the cumbersome bracelet on his wrist. “I wouldn’t play with that thing. Won’t it take your head off if you rub it wrong or something?”

“No,” the doc said. “Only if I get too far from the charming gentlemen over there.” They both glanced back, watching as the Cadmus thugs wrestled Scorcher out of the back seat. “You’ll do the paperwork when you get back? The last thing we need right now is some NCPD rookie sniffing around for a missing prisoner,” he said just loud enough to be overheard.

“Alien deaths in custody don’t create much of a paper trail,” Maggie reminded him with a sigh. “And the last asshole rookie to sniff around Cadmus was me. I won’t be rushing anyone else into this mess.”

He stepped in closer, and Maggie jumped slightly in surprise. “Will you get someone out of it?” he asked in a lower voice.

“I’d start with myself,” Maggie snapped back. She frowned, peering at his form in the shadows. He was wearing a hoodie, as always, obscuring most of his features from her curious eyes. This close, though, she could see a little more of him, and he seemed more rattled than usual. “You okay, Doc? You seem… different. Upset.”

“Cadmus took a woman.”

Swallowing, Maggie edged closer herself, only stopping when he backed up as if he might bolt. She held up her hands in a placating gesture, glancing back at the goons securing Scorcher to make sure they weren’t paying any attention to them. No surprise, they weren’t. “As in a human woman?”

He nodded. “They’re trying to brainwash her. Turn her to their cause.”

“I assume this isn’t just some street girl who needed the ten bucks?”

“No. She’s powerful. Has influence. Change the world influence, not to mention money and connections. If they do what they’re planning with her? We’re all done, Detective. They’ll build an army and use her to do it.”

Maggie took a breath, unsettled. She still did her best to protect and serve everyone, alien and human alike, but Cadmus constantly forced her to choose one life over another. Her aunt, M’gann, and the innocents at the bar relied on her to protect them. If that meant handing over dangerous and deadly alien criminals, she’d do it to keep the others safe, even if it destroyed her a little more every time. Now she had to choose again. Save a life or sacrifice it. It always came back to that, and goddamn she was tired. “Where is she?”

His hand appeared out of the darkness, holding a post-it note, the yellow almost obscenely bright in the meager light. Maggie took it, glancing at the address. It was in the industrial district, less than two blocks away.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured. “But only you can come. No other cops. There’s a door on the west side of the building. I’ll make sure it’s unlocked, and you’ll have maybe a thirty-minute window to get in and out with her.”

“That’s a big ask,” Maggie grumbled. This sounded bigger than their usual collaborations. Stopping a shipment here. Thwarting a plan there. Tipping off the Feds when something needed to be intercepted. Maggie helped Cadmus because she didn’t have a choice, and given the bracelet on the doctor she assumed he was in the same position. His statement about not being able to ditch his handlers gave her fresh cause for panic. She’d put a bullet in her own head before she’d live as Cadmus’s prisoner.

“Sounds like the kind of favor that might get my ass shot. How protected is this place, Jay?” It wasn’t his real name. Maggie knew that even though she’d been calling him that for months now, ever since he pulled her aside on an early drop-off. They’d both sensed a kindred spirit even then.

“Well enough.” Jay sighed, inching closer to the beam from her headlights. “I’ll help all I can, but getting her out won’t be easy.”

“But you think we have to risk everything to try?” Maggie asked skeptically. “You know what happens to me if I’m caught not toeing the NCPD line on this. My bosses can’t wait to have me _accidentally_ shot in the back at some raid or another, the minute I’m not useful to them. And I have people who’ll suffer if I’m not there to have their backs.”

“It’s your choice, Maggie.” He’d never used her first name before, and she knew they must really be screwed if he’d resorted to it.

“I know you said it has to be just me…” Maggie hesitated, not sure what to say. “I met this federal agent, she’s the real deal. Maybe she could–”

“No. Cadmus have eyes and ears everywhere, Detective. They’re all over the government, industry. They’ve been building for years. Hiding in plain sight. You might be working for them too, but at least I know it’s not willingly and you hold them in contempt, that you do what you can to fight back,” he whispered.

“And if they catch me?”

“Then what you’ve been dreading will probably come to pass. For me, too. But we’re all as good as dead, or we’ll wish we were, if they break her.”

Maggie nodded, glancing at the address again. “When?”

“Shift change is at nine tomorrow night. It has to be around then, so be nearby and be ready. Once she’s out, there’s a good chance I won’t be checking in your drop-offs anymore.”

They eyed each other, possibly for the last time. He knew doing this could finally get him killed, and he was willing to do it anyway.

“Well,” Maggie mumbled, holding out her hand. “If it goes to shit, thanks for the bad idea.”

She could barely see his smile in the shadows, but he shook her hand, his grip firm and callused. Then Jay surprised her, leaning in just a little more, and she got another first from him, a good look at his features. He was younger than she would have thought. Perhaps late forties, early fifties. Handsome with soft brown eyes. She’d seen those eyes somewhere before, and Maggie frowned, trying to place them.

“The pleasure was all mine, Detective Sawyer.”

Without another word, he released her, shouting to the men approaching with Scorcher as though he and Maggie had never exchanged a word.

Maggie watched them take the dazed Infernian inside and tried not to think about what would happen to the alien. Scorcher’s choices had led them both to this moment, but it didn’t make Maggie feel any better about handing the Infernian over. Swallowing down her nausea, Maggie turned on her boot heel and headed back to her car. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

***

“Here’s your sweater.” Alex threw the offending pink garment at Kara’s head as her sister came in through the balcony door of Alex’s living room.

“Keep it,” Kara teased, though she couldn’t quite muster a smile. She clearly hadn’t slept, and the sun’s powers could only supplement so much. “Cotton candy pink is absolutely your color.”

Alex gave her a look. “I’ll shove it in a drawer for you next time you need a quick change here, then,” she compromised, handing over a steaming mug of coffee and accepting the bran muffin Kara had brought her in exchange. Knowing she’d have to flash her FBI badge around town today, Alex had opted for one of her smart pantsuits and a striped blouse. “Hey, dressed like this, everyone will think you’re my assistant.”

“What’s the plan?” Kara asked, screwing up her eyes in disapproval for a moment. She was already on her second blueberry muffin, washing it down with the coffee Alex had provided. “I’ve searched everywhere I can think of, but there’s a whole lot of lead in this city. Pipes, paint, you name it.”

“Even your powers have limits. Did Winn find anything with Cat’s accounts?”

“Her credit cards have been used, the GPS on her phone moves around like you’d expect. Messages get replied to, emails are sent. We’re no closer than we were last night.” Kara took a shaky breath, trying to hold her concerns and fears at bay. “Winn pulled an all-nighter, but I made him take a nap while you and I take over.”

“Then it’s time for my bag of tricks.” Alex sighed. “This is going to be gumshoe style, knocking on doors and asking for favors. I know you’re going to tag along anyway, but you have to accept there are some places where you can’t come in with me, okay?”

Kara nodded, the determined set of her jaw making it clear Alex needn’t bother trying to talk her out of it.

“Fine. If all else fails, we’ll use Detective Sawyer as our last resort. Deal?”

“I don’t know why you trust her so readily,” Kara objected. “I mean, I’m sure she’s fine, but you never trust anyone that quickly. It took me months of being Supergirl before you fully trusted _me_.”

“It’s not about trust,” Alex assured her. “It’s about who can get the job done. She’s got connections I don’t, Kara. While I don’t want to lean on her, I will if we have to.”

”As long as it works,” Kara agreed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't forget to leave kudos or a comment if you've enjoyed this chapter of the virtual season. Questions always welcome too!
> 
> Major props to supercattuccino ([ao3](http://archiveofourown.org/users/krystalgoderitch) | [tumblr](http://supercattuccino.tumblr.com/ask)) and spaceshipsarecool ([ao3](http://archiveofourown.org/users/spaceshipsarecool) | [tumblr](http://spaceshipsarecool.tumblr.com/ask)) for their beta work on all episodes so far!


	3. Act VII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coming up in tonight's episode...

Thanks to @catgranting ([tumblr](http://catgranting.tumblr.com)) for this gorgeous take on Maggie and M’gann. Hit up the comments here or [Tumblr](http://catgranting.tumblr.com/ask) to let them know you loved the art!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't forget to leave kudos or a comment if you've enjoyed this chapter of the virtual season. Questions always welcome too!


	4. Act VII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex and Kara hit up Maggie for a favor, and she gives them access to a whole new world. M’gann and Maggie discuss the Cadmus problem, and there’s finally a lead on Cat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title gifs created by @xy0009 ([ao3](http://archiveofourown.org/users/xy0009) | [tumblr](http://xy0009.tumblr.com))

Several hours of nothing but dead-ends meant that they did have to lean on Sawyer in the end.

“Your sister?” Maggie looked from Alex to Kara and back again, snorting as she attempted to hold back a derisive laugh. “What? Your shady government organization doesn’t have daycare?”

Kara bristled, but forced herself not to straighten her spine or roll her shoulders. After such a short interval, she had to be as un-Super as possible, for fear of jogging Maggie’s memory. Not that Kara wanted to reach out to anyone who shot first and asked questions later, but for Cat’s sake she’d try anything. She’d trailed after Alex at a frustratingly human pace all morning, from government office to shady back street dive, one after the other. Nobody had heard anything of any use. The need to make progress, to find hope, fizzed in the pit of Kara’s stomach like the worst case of nerves. She couldn’t remember feeling so physically stressed since Krypton. Not even lifting Fort Rozz into space had bothered her this much.

“It’s her boss that’s missing, Detective.” Alex smoothed it over, playing the diplomat for a change. Kara still didn’t quite understand why Alex had ditched her shirt for a casual jacket before visiting the precinct, mussing her hair a little too. Like she wanted to look less official somehow. “She’s worried. Maybe a little more help and a little less attitude? You owe me one, remember?”

Maggie leaned back in her chair, watching them both. After a moment, she grabbed a pen and jotted something down on a post-it. “I’m not missing persons, Danvers. You want help? Go to the right place.” She handed Alex the note before pushing her chair back and getting to her feet, slipping on her leather jacket. “Now, if you’ll excuse me. I have somewhere I need to be.”

They watched as Maggie strode out of the bullpen without a backward glance. Only when Kara looked away, she turned to see her sister still staring in that direction.

“I thought you said she could help,” Kara hissed under her breath.

Alex flipped the post-it over, reading the note, keeping her features carefully neutral. “C’mon.”

“Where are we going?” Kara demanded.

“Somewhere else.”

A minute later, they stepped out into the lunchtime bustle of downtown National City, and Alex took Kara’s elbow, leading her away from the station.

“But the sign said Missing Persons is…” Kara lapsed into silence when Alex handed her the note.

 _Can’t talk here._  
_Meet me._

There was an address, and Kara glanced back up at Alex in surprise. Alex shrugged.

“Where is this place?” Kara asked, her stomach flipping a little with excitement. Someone with nothing to tell wouldn’t go to all this trouble.

“Guess we’re about to find out.”

***

M’gann sensed Maggie before she saw her, the low hum of all the minds M’gann wasn’t reading suddenly interrupted by the mental equivalent of a low yell.

_You’d better not be reading my mind, Miss Martian. I’ll kick your green ass._

“You know I don’t do that,” M’gann greeted the cop as she took a stool in front of the bar. She pulled a bottle of single malt from the rack, treating Maggie to a Lagavulin she normally wouldn’t go for this time of day. “So you don’t have to come in shouting every time.”

“If you’re not scanning, how do you know I was yelling?” Maggie accepted the glass, downing the whole thing in one gulp. When she slid it back, she winced.

“Girlfriend give you a workout?” M’gann teased before moving across the bar to serve a waiting Valeronian. Maggie watched him rub the ridge on his skull, flirting with an oblivious M’gann. Once he struck out, M’gann came back to their conversation, an expectant look on her face and a towel thrown over her shoulder.

“Girlfriend gave me my marching orders last week,” Maggie confessed. “I’m sore because some DEO asshole mistook me for Tom Brady the other night.”

“Well, you have the same build.”

“Ha ha. Plus, I had an Infernian try to toast me.” Maggie waited for her glass to be refilled, checking over both shoulders to make sure no one was close enough to eavesdrop. They didn’t get many Kryptonians in here since Fort Rozz left the planet, so it seemed safe enough. “No new arrivals?”

M’gann shook her head. “You still under pressure to bring more people in? There’s been no sign of trouble this week at least, just the usual small stuff. Help with a job, finding a place to crash. Anyone starts causing problems, I’ll let you know.”

“NCPD has its quotas.” Maggie sipped her drink this time, schooling her features so she wouldn’t give away her guilt over handing Scorcher in to Cadmus. M’gann eyed her sympathetically, though, and Maggie looked away, not feeling worth the care. “You’ll call me if anything goes south?”

“Don’t I always? It’s why you’re the only human allowed to drink in here, remember? You keep us safe.”

“Not all of you,” she murmured as she plunked her glass down. “Thanks, M’gann.” Maggie set some cash on the bar, even though it was waved away. “Speaking of humans, I’m meeting a couple in here. They won’t stay long, but I need a safe space to talk where Cadmus might not have ears.”

“It’s on you if they cause any trouble.” M’gann pursed her lips and took the cash after all, her own form of silent rebuke. Maggie nodded and headed back outside to wait.

***

The address had been a bitch to find, and Alex wasn’t thrilled to be in yet another shady location. Kara slipped off the back of the motorcycle, and Alex turned it off before doing the same. She spotted Maggie sauntering toward them, a look of appreciation in her dark eyes.

“Nice ride. I’ve got a Triumph myself. Bonneville T100.” Maggie traced a finger over the headlight.

“You ride?” Alex couldn’t help herself.

Maggie smirked. “So where’s your flying girlfriend?”

“My…?” Alex blinked, casting a confused look at Kara, who arched one eyebrow in silent question. “Oh, she is _not_ … She’s kidding, Kara. I don’t…” Alex fumbled for a reply. Maggie really enjoyed making Alex squirm just a little too much. “This is personal,” Alex said finally. “Off the record. Supergirl has other things to do, I’m sure.”

“Come on.” Maggie took pity on her at last. “Let me buy you both a drink.”

“With all due respect, Detective,” Kara said as they trailed after her, the weight of the morning’s dead ends weighing in her voice, “while that would be really nice of you, my boss… my _friend_ … is missing.” Alex heard the edge of Supergirl authority creep in there, and hoped fervently that Maggie hadn’t.

If Alex didn’t know her sister’s almost limitless capacity for compassion, she’d wonder just what kind of feelings Kara harbored for Cat Grant. The power crush had been obvious for a while now, but the way Kara had been acting since learning Cat had been taken was… something different.

“I get that, but we needed a safe place to talk. This is the place.” Maggie tapped on a metal door and a small grate at eye level slid back. “Dollywood,” she said, rolling her eyes. Alex bit back a snicker.

The grate closed and a lock was thrown before the door swung open with a groan of invitation a moment later. “After you, ladies.” Maggie gestured them inside.

“W–what is this place?” Kara asked, her gaze sweeping over the bar and all the aliens saddled up to it as country music twanged out of the jukebox by the door.

The air smelled of beer and spray paint, the latter being ingested at the end of the bar. Outside the DEO holding cells, Alex had never seen so many aliens in one place before, and her pulse rate jerked into overdrive as she eased protectively closer to Kara.

“A safe haven,” Maggie explained as Alex reached for her service weapon, getting a placating hand on her forearm a second later. “Not so much for humans, but since you’re with me it should be fine. We might want to keep our voices down though. And guns holstered.” Kara snorted about that, clearly about to comment on the previous night. Alex would have kicked her if only it wouldn’t result in broken toes.

“The bartender,” Alex interrupted in a hurry, watching M’gann connect a line to a new keg. “Is she–?”

“That’s her,” Maggie confirmed. “I’ll introduce you another time. Come on. We need to talk.”

Kara practically shoved them all into their seats. “Can you help us?” she all but pleaded.

Maggie’s eyes softened slightly before slipping back into an unreadable veneer. “I had a source tell me last night that a woman is being held captive. Then you two,” Maggie jerked a thumb between them, “show up at my office asking for help finding your… _friend_?” Maggie’s tone indicated she thought there was more to the relationship than that, adding to Alex’s suspicions. If Kara noticed Maggie’s suggestive inflection, she ignored it. “Look,” Maggie continued, “I might not believe in karma, but I can’t help but feel like this is no coincidence. My source says the woman these people are holding is powerful. Lots of influence, which is why they wanted her.”

Kara leaned in closer. “Does Cat Grant fit the bill?”

“Shit,” Maggie hissed.

“Who is your source?” Alex demanded. “I’d like to meet him.”

“Not gonna happen,” Maggie said tightly. “My source. My rules. Do you want what I know or not?”

“Alex,” Kara begged, and despite the temptation to strong-arm Maggie just to take that panic out of Kara’s eyes, Alex stuck to the responsible course of action. She squeezed Kara’s shoulder to say _I’ve got this_.

“We want to know,” Alex said.

“All I’ve got is a time and a location.” Maggie was downplaying it, Alex was sure. Managing them, and their expectations. Not that it was working on Kara, who was practically vibrating with the need to know more.

“Why wouldn’t you just get the rest of the department and go get her if you know where she is?” Kara pressed. “We could have had Cat back by now.”

“This isn’t the kind of place you just kick the door in. These people don’t like guests. They leave nasty surprises for the uninvited. I’ve got one tiny window to get her out, and I have to go alone. You can wait nearby, but it has to be me or not at all.”

“We want to help,” Kara insisted. She reached for Maggie’s hands, where she was shredding a beer mat between nervous fingers. Maggie pulled away from the touch. “I _need_ to help, and Alex can ask her boss–”

“Who has her?” Alex interrupted, not willing to rely on anything J’onn may or may not authorize right now. “You know. Or at least you suspect, if you’re calling them _these people_. Who is it?”

Maggie shook her head, seemingly torn. “You go storming in there, Danvers, you’re going to get the most powerful woman in National City killed.”

“ _Person,_ ” Kara automatically corrected.

Alex slammed her hand down on the table, drawing a bunch of otherworldly eyes on them. “ _Who has her?_ ”

“Keep it down,” Maggie warned, glaring at the patrons who couldn’t mind their business. When the bar resettled into a low hum, she relented. “I don’t have proof, exactly, but the guy who talks to me, I think he’s with Cadmus.”

Alex rocked back in surprise, but it was Kara’s sharp gasp that drew Maggie’s focus.

“Oh my God. Alex… they could be… what if they’re…” She was shaking, and Alex put a hand over her sister’s, gripping tightly. “They could be _experimenting_ on her…” Kara started to jerk to her feet, and Alex grabbed her by the hem of her sweater.

“Kara,” she scolded. “We need information. Sit down.”

“But Cadmus have Cat…” Kara looked shaken and sick. On top of all her other reasons for hating Cadmus, Alex wanted to wipe them out all over again just for making her sister feel this way. Kara had lost so many people already, including the too-recent loss of Astra at Alex’s hand. That nagging little voice that asked _why does Kara care this much_ piped up again, but Alex ignored it in favor of listening to Maggie’s response.

“We think they do,” Maggie corrected. “Could just be garden variety assholes looking for a payday.”

They all stared at each other for an uncomfortable moment.

“Then why haven’t they asked for ransom? No, this makes more sense. But what would Cadmus want with Cat?” Kara asked them both, remembering her role as alleged human at last.

“Nothing good,” Maggie muttered.

“Have they hurt her?” Alex asked, and Kara flinched at the question.

“I don’t know,” Maggie said with a touch of regret. “My source just said I needed to find a way to get her out before it was too late.”

“Alex…” Kara groaned.

Alex swallowed, her gaze cutting back to Maggie and lingering. “You can take us there? I’m coming in with you, and I don’t want any arguments.”

Sighing, Maggie nodded once.

“Do I want to know?” Alex asked. “Why you’re not charging in there with the entire NCPD?”

Maggie shrugged, and Alex’s stomach twisted. “Then I’m going in your place.”

“The hell you will.” Maggie stood, placing her palms on the table. “I’m already fucking up by even telling you. The kid stays in the car.” She gestured at Kara. “You bring a gun and back me up, but that is it.”

“And Supergirl,” Kara added, making Alex want to slap a hand over her sister’s mouth. This situation with Cat was making her stupid. “I know you three worked together just fine last night.”

“Kara, go get us some drinks,” Alex ordered, before Kara blew her cover yet a-damn-gain. “I’m sure they’ll know Detective Sawyer’s usual.”

“But–”

“ _Kara._ ” No arguing after that, just striding off to the bar in a huff. It might be enough not to rouse Maggie’s suspicions, at least. Alex leaned back in the booth, surveying the detective. “Fill me in,” she said finally. “How do we get the Queen of all Media back on her throne?”

***

Cat sat on her bunk, staring blearily at the door. For days now, she’d waited for it to be torn off its hinges, for Kara to sweep in and save her, but her hero never came, only more villains determined to bend her iron will to the cause by whatever means necessary. By degrees, Cat knew they were succeeding. She couldn’t hold out much longer. It wasn’t just the repeated falling, the spilling oil tanker, the fights where Supergirl looked angry enough to kill. She’d seen that coverage before, could resist the twisted message. What she couldn’t control were the hallucinations of things she didn’t know if Kara had ever done. They were so real and vivid she wasn’t sure what was reality anymore.

Closing her eyes, Cat leaned back against the wall. At least she’d tried, at least she’d fought them as hard as she could. Lillian was frustrated with her resistance, and it was the only solace Cat found in her current situation. She lived to piss the other woman off, but her rebellion would only make Lillian’s eventual success all the sweeter.

Cat wondered if she would know when Cadmus flipped whatever switch they were after in her mind. Would she know what she was feeling, thinking, and doing were wrong, or would it feel good? Feel right? Would hatred replace her ambition, becoming the fuel that kept her warm? The thoughts made her stomach churn.

In a matter of hours, Cat would hate Kara. She’d despise those beautiful blue eyes. Sneer in disgust at that sunny smile. Cat hung her head, suddenly more frightened than she’d ever been in her life, but at least thinking of Kara still felt good, still gave her comfort. They hadn’t broken her yet, and Cat knew what she had to do to make sure they wouldn’t.

A tear slipped down her cheek as she thought of her boys. She hoped they would forgive her, but she couldn’t allow herself to become a tool in the destruction of their worlds.

And Kara… Cat had promised her she would be back. It was a promise she was going to break.

***

“Could I have a club soda please?” Kara rooted around in her bag for cash. She had the feeling this place didn’t take credit cards. “And uh, whatever Maggie Sawyer usually drinks?” She nodded back towards her table. “This might sound rude, but do you have uh, human beer too?”

“Made from humans?” The bartender pretended to look scandalized, before breaking into a slow grin. “Sure, does it have to be craft beer or is it more a Miller Lite deal?”

“Miller’s fine,” Kara agreed quickly, since Alex always managed three plastic cups of the stuff the few times they’d been to watch the National City Cosmos. She fussed with the cash she’d recovered, transferring it from one hand to the other and flexing her fingers around it.

“You know, if you want the hard stuff I have some Aldebaran rum back here.”

Kara nodded politely, preoccupied with listening in on Maggie and Alex. She’d promised never to eavesdrop on her sister, but decided that hunting for Cat made a reasonable exception to the rule. For all her skills, Alex might not recognize a relevant Cat-related detail when she heard one. Only when Kara replayed the bartender’s words in her head did she pull up short.

“I’m sorry, you’ve got what?”

“Aldebaran rum,” the bartender repeated, a little impatient. “Most of your kind are crazy for it.”

“My… kind?” Kara fiddled with her glasses, playing for time and losing. “But I heard that stuff would kill a human.”

“Lucky you’re not human, then. I’m M’gann, by the way. Since I just tried to read your mind, it’s only polite I introduce myself.” She set the beer and a glass of scotch down, picking up the tap for club soda.

“How did you… because you can’t…”

“Exactly. Only a handful of aliens are impervious, and only one of those races passes for human. Wasn’t exactly rocket science. Still a no on the rum?”

“Just club soda. You’re her, aren’t you? The other Green Martian.”

“It’s M’gann. And what do you mean, other?”

“A friend of ours – colleague, really – he thought he was the last. We told him about you, but I didn’t realize you were right here this whole time.”

“Well someone’s wrong, somewhere along the line. No Martians left but me.”

“Hey, I know what it’s like to have to keep it secret,” Kara said, leaning across the bar to keep her voice quiet. “But I think it would mean a lot to him, after all this time. Maybe to you both.”

“I’m not interested. And I’ll thank you to keep my secret, same as I’ll keep yours, Girl of Steel. You might call it a currency, here in my bar. But I wouldn’t come in here with that cape of yours. Plenty of people don’t like it when someone just like them starts rounding them up and putting them in prison. Or worse, handing them over to the government.”

Kara hung her head. Ever since she’d come out as Supergirl she’d found a surprising number of aliens just like her, hiding in plain sight. Most had been hostile to her, because of the Kryptonian reputation or the name Zor-El in particular.

Was this how her mother had felt, every day? Trying to do good, to preserve law and order, only for everyone to have an opinion on the twenty ways she was doing it wrong? Not so long ago, Kara had told Cat she blamed Alura for not choosing right, for not saving Krypton. Now, when faced with yet another threat from people who hated everything about Kara because of the world she was born on, she couldn’t help wondering if throwing her lot in with criminals and outcasts would have been the better path. After all, people loved a Robin Hood type more than a goody-two-shoes.

At school, she’d accepted her outsider status, knowing it couldn’t be any other way as one alien amongst humans. It stung more than she cared to admit that she was just as much an unwanted stranger to people who came from worlds much more like her own.

“How much do I owe you for the drinks?”

“Tell Sawyer they’re on her tab. And hey, Kryptonian?” M’gann said as Kara gathered up the drinks. “You got a name?”

It seemed pointless not to share it. “Kara,” she sighed. “Thanks for the drinks.”

***

“And I’m saying you give me the address so I can check out the area first,” Alex argued, watching Kara return to the table.

“You think I hit my head last night?” Maggie countered right back, not giving an inch. “I give you so much as the zip code, and you’ll have strike teams kicking in every door ten minutes from now. It can’t go down that way.”

“What the hell are you so afraid of?” Alex kept coming at her, and Maggie could feel the fatigue settling in. It would be so easy to just confess, to blurt it all out and let it fall on another pair of shoulders. “If it’s Cadmus they might be armed, but they’re not a government. They can’t be so unstoppable.”

“Then you don’t know what you’re dealing with.” Maggie stood. She had enough left in the tank to ride it out one more time. Maybe tomorrow she’d quit, go back to Nebraska and keep her aunt safe in person, assuming she’d make it out of the city alive. “You know where to wait, and I’ve got your number. I’m doing this tonight whether you show up or not. And if it’s not your girl then hey, sorry I wasted your time.”

“Wait!” Alex grabbed her wrist, gently enough to still be a question and not a demand. “We’ll do it your way, but I’m bringing a small team, okay? Trust me, Sawyer.”

“I don’t trust anyone, Danvers. I’ll text if anything changes.” Maggie pointed at Kara. “And I better not see you out there waving a can of pepper spray tonight.”

“You won’t,” Kara promised, before taking a hasty mouthful of club soda.

“You sure? Five minutes ago you were ready to storm the barricades.”

“I know my limits. Alex is the badass, but I can still help in other ways.”

“Don’t stay too long,” Maggie tossed back over her shoulder. “Not really your kinda crowd.”

***

“Okay, where are we going?” Kara asked the moment they were back out in the afternoon sunlight. “I’ll fly us, we can come back for the bike.”

“You heard her, Kara.”

“They’ve got Cat! They could be doing anything to her!” Kara’s chest got strangely tight again. Images flickered in mind she wished she could blink away. In her imagination, Cadmus was everything from a tiny clinic to Frankenstein’s laboratory, and nothing about it gave her the least bit of comfort. She’d been torturing herself with horror movie montages of it ever since they found out about Jeremiah. “If we can get her out even a few hours earlier…”

Alex turned on her. “You want to risk getting her killed? If you can’t keep your head…”

“What? You’re going to _forbid_ me from going? You and whose army, Alex?”

“This is no time for your super punk routine,” Alex warned. “If you’re going to be a brat, do it on your own time. But you asked for my help, and this is the best help I’ve got to give.”

“You don’t understand.” Kara put her hands over her face. She couldn’t think straight. Her senses kept trying to kick into overdrive. If she could scan one more building, strain her hearing to make out that one, all-important heartbeat, she could make this save.

“Hey.” Alex pulled Kara’s hands away gently. “Now you’ve got me worried. You only hide your face like that when something really upsets you. Am I missing something here? Because I know what it looks like…”

“Like what?” Kara asked, unable to look her sister in the eye.

“Like the person Cadmus have taken is someone who matters to you _way_ more than any boss should. Kara, did something… happen before she left?”

“What do you mean, _happen_?”

Alex hesitated, drawing in a slow breath. “I know you have a crush–”

Kara’s temper flared. “You think that’s why she promoted me? Because I more than earned it. And it’s not a crush, it’s… admiration. We got pretty close, is all.” She left it at that, unwilling to confess to anything more in the moment.

“We know Cadmus take aliens,” Kara continued, “but what do they want with a human? And why Ms. Grant? She has no security clearance, and I know she can be quite supportive of Supergirl, but…”

“Maybe too supportive, if you think like Cadmus,” Alex pointed out. “You think it’s her money they want? Or, well…”

“What?”

“Her television stations. Radio stations. Online channels. Three newspapers and eight magazines, wasn’t it? You’ve described the empire to me often enough.”

“Eleven magazines,” Kara added, a hint of pride creeping back in. “And that’s just domestic. There’s no way she’d support them, though. You saw how reluctant she was to turn against me, and I threw her off a building.”

“I didn’t say she’d do it willingly.”

“You mean…” Kara couldn’t say the words. Coercion, torture, experimental science that created monsters like Metallo. “Are you really sure we can’t go now?”

“Sawyer’s our only lead. But that doesn’t mean we can’t get ready in the meantime. Let’s hit the DEO first, get some help we know we can trust. Then we make our own plan, just in case.”

“Thank you. And thank you for not teasing me about–”

“Oh, that’s coming,” Alex assured her. “Just as soon as we get her back, safe and sound. All the teasing.”

“I hate you.” But Kara smiled, just a fraction.

“I know. Now get back on the bike. Time’s wasting.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't forget to leave kudos or a comment if you've enjoyed this chapter of the virtual season. Questions always welcome too!
> 
> Major props to supercattuccino ([ao3](http://archiveofourown.org/users/krystalgoderitch) | [tumblr](http://supercattuccino.tumblr.com/ask)) and spaceshipsarecool ([ao3](http://archiveofourown.org/users/spaceshipsarecool) | [tumblr](http://spaceshipsarecool.tumblr.com/ask)) for their beta work on all episodes so far!


	5. Act VIII

This lovely image comes to us from @ofpensandcupcakes ([tumblr](http://ofpensandcupcakes.tumblr.com)). Hit up the comments here or [hit the ask box](http://ofpensandcupcakes.tumblr.com/ask) to let them know you loved the art!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't forget to leave kudos or a comment if you've enjoyed this chapter of the virtual season. Questions always welcome too!


	6. Act VIII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara and Alex have to wait on rescuing Cat in order to protect the president. Events at the airport get out of hand, quickly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title gifs created by @xy0009 ([ao3](http://archiveofourown.org/users/xy0009) | [tumblr](http://xy0009.tumblr.com))

“Where’s Danvers?” J’onn snapped, appearing at Winn’s shoulder without making a sound. Winn just about fell out of his chair after a less than dignified yelp.

“She, uh…” Winn didn’t actually know, was the problem. J’onn’s stern expression suggested he should make something up, and fast.

“Sir,” Vasquez interrupted. How did these people who wore enough hardware to start a medium-sized war move so damn quietly? “She was following up on known associates of the Infernian, making sure there’s no plan B. Intel took her to some known alien gathering points.”

“But here she is now!” Winn practically squeaked, relieved to see Alex striding towards them, Kara in tow.

“You’re cutting it fine, Agent.” J’onn crossed his arms over his chest.

“Fine for what?” Alex did not look happy, and Winn had the feeling his relief would be short-lived.

“For the president’s landing,” Winn clarified, trying to head off confrontation. “Wheels down in less than an hour.”

“What do they need us for?” Kara demanded, as agitated as Winn had seen her in a long while. She only got that antsy on mornings when Cat had been out drinking the night before, and a day of hangover management stretched out in front of Kara, adding to the impossibility of being a CEO’s assistant.

“All known threats have been contained,” J’onn said. “It’s the unknown we have to worry about.”

“But we–” Kara started to protest, stopped by Alex’s hand on her arm.

“On our way, sir.” Alex all but clicked her heels and saluted, steering Kara towards the armory as they muttered between them in muted sister speak that Winn had given up trying to follow along with. Maybe he could go support them in the field again.

Only when he stood to go after them, his department-issued pants ripped open right along the seams. Damn things had been velcroed, and the back half was now firmly stuck to his chair, leaving his Superman boxers exposed to the entire floor.

“Very funny!” he yelled, casting around for someone to blame. Were those Vasquez’s shoulders shaking with concealed laughter? No one at the consoles would make eye contact.

“Get it together, man,” Henshaw instructed on his way out.

***

“What do you see?” Alex asked from her position at the fence. “I need eyes, Supergirl.”

“You have two already.” Kara couldn’t resist sassing back over the comms, despite the seriousness of the situation. “But since they can’t see through walls or shoot lasers, yeah, maybe you should leave it to the flying alien.”

“ _What do you see?_ ” Alex could feel Kara’s attention slipping away every few seconds. Kara swooped over the roofs of the lower buildings, reporting back with only the slightest gritting of her teeth.

“Empty buildings. A nearly empty parking lot. A bunch of men with guns…”

“I think you’ll find they’re called Secret Service.” Alex sighed. “Look, I know neither of us wants to be here, but we have to be on our game. J’onn was right when he said the Infernian is the only threat we were _sure_ of; doesn’t mean there aren’t others.”

“Don’t you mean Director Henshaw?” There was a hint of acid in Kara’s voice as she landed next to Alex. “He made it quite clear we’re not supposed to expect family treatment anymore. I’m not even supposed to come around the DEO after this.”

Alex bit the inside of her cheek, trying to keep her temper in check. The way J’onn had barked orders at them – again – and threatened to write Alex up for even asking what had happened in Washington to cause such resistance on his part, it rankled her even now. Only the last-minute preservation instinct to not blow her chance of helping Cat Grant or her father had stopped Alex from answering his questions with her fists.

“Something’s going on, Kara. Something way above my pay grade. He’s been through a lot for us lately – outing himself to save me.” The _from you_ went unspoken, but Alex saw Kara flinch all the same. “Then going on the run with me to find Cadmus. Can I really be mad at him if he’s decided he’s risked enough for the Danvers sisters already?”

“I can be mad at him. And I know you are too. You’ve gone all sullen and arm-foldy.” She gestured to Alex’s stance, and Alex uncrossed her arms as though that would disprove the point.

“Let’s just focus on helping protect the president,” Alex deflected, checking her holstered weapons in a quick and practiced routine. Wearing a suit meant she was restricted to just three, and it seemed too light on options. “Do you really want to see Cat later and tell her you let some giant amphibian take out the candidate she campaigned so hard for? How many Marsdin fundraisers did she have you plan?”

“A few.” Kara dismissed it with a wave of her hand. The hours until they could act were dragging, and no amount of encouragement from Alex could drown out the feeling that they should have gone already. “But her own preference never affected our reporting. CatCo News was hard on the president too.”

“A little obsessed with her emails, but sure.” The roar of jet engines came into Alex’s hearing range, meaning Kara must have known for the past few minutes. “We can do this, Kara. We can do both.”

“I hope so.” A little morose, a slump to Kara’s shoulders. “Cat should have been here with the mayor, welcoming the president.”

“Well it looks like CatCo is still represented.” Alex nodded to the dignitaries lining the small red carpet, some milling around and chatting, others working furiously on phones and tablets. Amongst them stood James Olsen in a sharp gray suit, trusty Canon slung around his neck.

“What’s he doing here?” Kara grumbled.

“You’d better go find out. I think you’re supposed to be in the fancy welcoming party anyway, Ms. Celebrity.”

“Ugh.” Kara tossed her curls back from her face and made her way over. As she approached, the yells of _Supergirl_ went up, tripping over one another and melting into the spontaneous applause. Alex watched her sister go with pride, and just a little trepidation over how long she’d be in front of all those cameras. One day facial recognition was going to screw them all, but for now it was nice to see Kara given her due. People remembered how she’d saved them with her words, but nobody knew she’d nearly sacrificed her life to save them from the second wave of Myriad attacks.

She deserved a little more credit.

***

“Well if it isn’t James Olsen.” Kara tried for perky, knowing Supergirl talking to Cat’s replacement would generate attention, and possibly awkward questions. Luckily James had a relationship with her and Kal in his own right. “What are you doing here?”

“I was invited. Or, well, the CEO of CatCo was. Thought I should put in an appearance.”

“And you brought your camera?”

“Up here I can get angles the press gaggle can’t.” James gestured to the scrum of reporters behind some temporary barriers. “And here comes the main event now.”

Air Force One landing at the military base was a sight to see, and even Kara had to admit she was impressed. Before all this, she had secretly hoped the president might invite her on to the plane for a chat, maybe a thank you for the whole Myriad thing. Kara wondered if, when she left, the president could be convinced to growl _get off my plane_ at her, just like in the Harrison Ford movie.

The ground crew were ready in record time, the rolling stairway in place by the door the moment the plane came to a halt. The number of agents in the crowd seemed to double, and Kara gave a cursory scan of everyone assembled. The few plainclothes agents or cops with weapons also had badges stashed in pockets, so she could dismiss the weapons they had concealed.

All until the last person she scanned, a short and stocky man who seemed agitated, his hands fisted as he jostled the people around him. He hadn’t drawn the attention of any law enforcement, partially concealed by the throng around him. Kara patted James absent-mindedly on the arm and began edging around the barrier to get closer.

“Kara?” Alex had seen her on the move. “You’re going to miss the president.”

“No I won’t,” Kara muttered. She made it to the twitching guy as the plane door opened, agents spilling forth and taking up formation at the foot of the stairs.

The president appeared moments later, in a crisp royal blue skirt suit, that much-written about auburn hair perfectly styled, barely a breeze to disturb it. Kara’s heart clenched with a strange kind of pride, a muted version of what she felt watching Cat on TV, or striding through a room with people gaping in her wake. Kara had been proud to cast her vote for the first female president, and her inner fangirl gave a half-hearted cheer despite everything weighing on her.

The man lunged for the barrier, knocking people down in the process. Kara tried to right them as she whooshed past, placing herself between the man and the red carpet.

“That’s close enough!” He hesitated at her shout, and the collective attention of everyone shifted to them, the confrontation hanging in the balance. She could do this: talk him down without a scratch, publicly keep the peace one more time. Welcome President Marsdin with an example of alien diplomacy to thank her for the amnesty that could improve so many lives.

But then he rushed at her all the same, bouncing off with a slightly anticlimactic thud. If he had stayed down, if he could at least have given Kara that much of a tiny break, she might have let it go. Instead he grabbed for the first piece of leverage he could get his grubby hands on: her cape.

When he yanked with little regard on the fabric, it set Kara off. Because of him, she was here and not where Cat needed her to be. As he tried to scramble back to standing, Kara grabbed him by the throat and slammed him in what she was fairly sure counted as a WWE move. He didn’t get up, groaning as he blacked out. She looked up into a blanket of flickering flashes and gasps from the crowd.

Alex was at her side then, pulling her away from the would-be attacker, back into the throng of dignitaries, using them as a temporary hiding place as agents rushed over and scooped up the unconscious man. Kara looked down the line of shocked faces, stunned to see James had his camera out, capturing the whole scene.

“What the hell?” she hissed as she reached him, trying to keep her expression neutral. James set the camera down. “You seriously took shots of that? You saw me losing my temper!”

“I have to report what’s in front of me.” He held his ground, shoulders squared. Alex took his arm too and steered them out of earshot of the other guests. “You saw all those other outlets. I’m supposed to let CatCo be the only one without the scoop?”

“The _scoop_?” Kara couldn’t quite believe what she was hearing, even as she tried playing the same sentiment in her head in Cat’s voice. Cat wouldn’t be that blunt, would she? She should be looking for her, she should be kicking down doors and not standing in line to shake hands with the president.

“In my old job I had the choice,” James explained. “But now I have a bigger responsibility. I have to tell even the stories I don’t want out there. No matter who they make look bad.”

Kara’s shoulders slumped as the fight left her. “You know what? I have bigger things to think about.”

“You get somewhere on Cat?” James seemed genuinely concerned, just as he should be, but Kara’s simmering temper didn’t want to let him in. If this was all about him not dealing with the breakup as well as he claimed, she didn’t want any part of it. These boys, and letting them down gently, it got so exhausting after a while.

“I’ll let you know.” Kara knew it was childish to shut him out, but she didn’t want to lead anyone else into danger on a qualified hunch. The thought of explaining pointless casualties to Cat after rescuing her was enough to keep Kara focused. And she _would_ be rescuing Cat. The alternative wasn’t acceptable. “Or maybe you’ll see it on the news. I’m sure Snapper will let you know.”

“Kara, wait–”

Alex stepped between them, clearly ready to lash out. “I think you mean _Supergirl_ ,” she reminded him. “I thought you of all people would be more careful.”

“I’m sorry.” James held up his hands. “Looks like you’ve got to go, huh?”

“Yeah,” Kara said. “We do. See you at work.”

“Everything okay there?” Alex asked as they headed back to the car. The crowd parted to let them through, attention focused back on the president’s interrupted arrival. Kara knew there would be bad press, not least because she didn’t stay to greet the president herself, but she couldn’t trust herself to smile and play nicely any longer. “I thought you said the friend thing was working? He seemed fine last night.”

“We’re still adjusting.”

“He should adjust faster.”

“He will,” Kara promised. She had faith in that much at least. “Can we finally start to get ready now?”

“I already loaded my trunk. We’re meeting at your apartment,” Alex told her. “Nearly there, okay?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't forget to leave kudos or a comment if you've enjoyed this chapter of the virtual season. Questions always welcome too!
> 
> Major props to supercattuccino ([ao3](http://archiveofourown.org/users/krystalgoderitch) | [tumblr](http://supercattuccino.tumblr.com/ask)) and spaceshipsarecool ([ao3](http://archiveofourown.org/users/spaceshipsarecool) | [tumblr](http://spaceshipsarecool.tumblr.com/ask)) for their beta work on all episodes so far!


	7. Act IX

---  
  
Gorgeous gifset courtesy of mitski ([ao3](http://archiveofourown.org/users/mitski) | [tumblr](https://mitski.tumblr.com)). Be sure to let her know how much you love it!


	8. Act IX

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The rescue begins, but will it be in time?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title gifs created by @xy0009 ([ao3](http://archiveofourown.org/users/xy0009) | [tumblr](http://xy0009.tumblr.com))

“Time to go?” Kara called from behind the curtains that separated her bedroom from the rest of the apartment.

Alex nodded as she checked the last of her weapons, sliding them into her backpack and zipping it closed. “Yeah. Winn and Vasquez will be here with the van any minute.” There were more plans to share, but she found her words deserted her at the sight of her sister.

An unpleasant shock skittered through her veins, and Alex took an involuntary step back. Having expected to see Kara in her trademark cape and crest, Alex was wholly unprepared to find her wearing the navy body suit she had sported while under the influence of red kryptonite. “I…” Alex swallowed, finding it hard to breathe as all the hurts from that fateful confrontation between them bubbled to the surface. The way Kara had looked at Alex like she was no one, nothing; the cruel and taunting words spoken right there in that room.

Alex cleared her throat. “I thought you burned that.”

Kara glanced down at herself. As comfortable as the outfit looked compared to her usual “super” attire, she seemed ill at ease in it. “Sorry. I should have warned you. I just… I don’t think I should wear the suit tonight.”

“I could have loaned you some clothes from the DEO.” Alex looked away. They’d promised to talk about that night, about all the awful things Kara had said, all the things Alex had ever done to make Kara feel that way in the past. But they’d been interrupted by crisis after crisis, never making the time. Alex would be lying if she’d said she hadn’t been relieved when the topic had failed to come up.

“They’re just clothes,” Kara challenged.

“I don’t… like seeing you in that.” Alex rolled her neck, tugging at the collar of her tactical vest.

“I don’t like who I was last time I wore it either,” Kara admitted, drifting closer, “but that’s who Cat _needs_ tonight. Not Supergirl the super nice hero. Not Kara Danvers the assistant. She needs Kara Zor-El, the woman willing to do whatever it takes to protect the people she cares about. I’m not proud of what I did back then, Alex, but I’m not the last line of defense tonight. This is an attack.”

Alex absorbed that, unnerved by the darkness swirling around her sister. Cadmus had no idea what they’d unleashed when they’d taken Cat Grant. She was only beginning to understand it herself. Clearly whatever Cat meant to Kara was way more than a damn crush if her sister was resorting to this. No wonder she’d ended things with James. “You know who you look like in that, don’t you?”

“I think I understand Astra now better than I ever have.” Kara placed her hands on her hips, and it brought a little of her regular Supergirl warmth back into her posture. “She would have done anything to save the people she loved. She went to jail for it, and she died for it in the end. No matter how warped her logic got, that was always the heart of everything she did.”

“Hearing that doesn’t make me feel any better.” Alex hesitantly gripped her sister by her shoulders, her gaze raking over Kara’s suit. “You sure about this? Maybe you should let me go it alone. I know what it’s like when you get too close to something like this, you lose–”

“You know I can’t do that. Would you expect me to stand back and let someone else tackle Cadmus if they had you? Will you ask me to sit on the bench when we find our dad? No. So don’t ask me to do it for Cat.”

To elevate Cat to that level of loyalty and protection went far beyond anything Alex had expected, and yet the signs had been there for longer than she cared to acknowledge. That made Kara all the more dangerous: to Cadmus, and to anyone else who got in her way tonight. She had to be more cautious, especially with bad press from the Air Force One landing already starting to build.

“Just… be careful in there, Kara. Don’t cross any lines Cat wouldn’t want you to cross.”

“Cadmus drew the lines,” Kara warned. “If I need to cross them to save her? That’s on them.” She moved past her sister, leaving Alex unsettled in her wake.

***

“Wow,” Winn said as Kara landed in the alley next to her apartment building. He’d never seen her look so… deadly before. The footage from the red kryptonite showdown hadn’t done the alien assassin look justice. “That’s… wait. Who designed that suit?”

“Winn,” Alex groused as she stepped out of a service door. “Get back in the van.”

“But isn’t that…” Winn began to protest as Kara opened the back door and climbed inside. With a huff, he followed, slamming the door behind him as Alex walked around the van and climbed in on the passenger side. Vasquez waited patiently behind the wheel.

“Thank you all for doing this,” Kara said quietly.

Vasquez nodded and cranked the ignition. “Any excuse to get out in the field. Only nerds like being stuck behind a desk.”

“It’s a lot safer behind a desk,” Winn muttered, realizing for the first time he was surrounded by hot women, none of whom seemed to have the slightest bit of interest in him. “But whatever Cadmus want Cat for, it can’t be good, so I’m in. And you know, she might have been scary, but she did give me a pretty sweet gig for a while there. Paid more than government work, too.”

The van rumbled out of the alley and into traffic. Alex glanced at her watch. “We meet Sawyer in thirty. Winn, we’re going to need specs on the building as soon as we know which one it is.”

Winn frowned at Kara, bothered by the way she sat quietly on the floor, her gaze locked on her hands. “You okay?” he asked.

“Winn?” Alex snapped.

“Yeah, yeah. Specs, building, got it.” When Alex looked away, Winn edged closer to Kara. “Hey…” He grabbed her boot, giving it a light shake. “We’re going to get her out, Kara.”

“They’ve had her for a week, Winn.” Kara looked up at him, her blue eyes full of fear. “ _A week._ All the things they could have done to her in that time…” She swallowed roughly. “I can’t help but wonder… has she been calling for me? Did I miss her screams?” Her voice broke, and she blinked several times, trying to hold back tears. “Or what if… what if she’s already…”

“Kara,” Winn said softly, shifting to settle next to her on the floor. “After two years of Cat screaming _Keira_ twenty times a day, you wouldn’t have missed her calling for you. You’re programmed to respond to her voice now. I bet you could hear her even if she really was in Hawaii.”

Kara huffed out a faint laugh in surprise, her lips twitching ever so slightly, but a few tears slipped free, sliding down her cheeks. “I swear I heard her from the Fortress one time, you know?”

“Cadmus would have ways to dampen sound. That’s the only reason you wouldn’t hear her, and that’s not on you. Not even with your bat ears.” Kara glared at him. “And… bat stuff is off the table, along with comparing you to any men in leotards. Got it.”

Nodding, Kara swallowed again, but some of the painfully rigid tension in her shoulders relaxed. They sat in silence, listening to the hum of the engine and the traffic around them. All of a sudden, she tensed again, hugging her knees. “If they hurt her, though…” she whispered. “Rao help me, I’ll…”

Winn leaned against her, offering the only comfort he could. “You’re going to get her back, and she’s going to be okay. She’s Cat.” He mustered an encouraging smile. “Nine lives, remember? And I’m making that pun solely to make sure she comes out here and kicks my ass for it. Which she is definitely gonna do, thanks to you.”

Kara met his gaze then. “I’d better bring her back,” she murmured, her tone as dark as her suit. “Or I’ll make sure Cadmus regret the day they took her from me.”

***

Knowing Danvers and her team would be early, Maggie had taken up her post a full hour before Jay’s instructions, sticking to dark doorways and secluded alleys, moving in the shadows and scouting out the terrain as best she could. Even packing three different weapons she felt light on arms. With any luck, Danvers would bring an arsenal and be inclined to share. The thought helped her bite back the metallic taste of panic as she steeled herself for what was about to go down.

They had the sense to ditch their van two blocks from the rendezvous, though the sound of the engine carried in the otherwise deserted area. Not willing to be taken by surprise, Maggie stayed out of sight as they approached, weapons drawn. Yet again Danvers was leading her small team, just one other agent and… oh. Supergirl had a tactical uniform. Maggie hadn’t seen that apart from the night the hero had her angsty brush with playing villain, leaving NCPD with one hell of a cleanup. That had been twelve hours of overtime alone, and by the time she clocked off, even Maggie had been feeling a little anti-alien.

“Supergirl really does take your calls, huh?” Maggie stepped out of the shadows and got two guns drawn on her faster than she could blink. Supergirl’s eyes glowed white hot a moment, before settling back down. She nodded in acknowledgement as Maggie led them towards her hiding place.

Alex glanced at Supergirl, who had begun to pace. “Cat named her. They’re friends. This is Vasquez, and I trust her with my life. That means you can trust her with yours.”

Taking a deep breath, Maggie nodded, sliding her weapon back into her holster. “And how’d you manage to get your sister to stay out of this? Or is she leading the B team?”

“I had to promise her we wouldn’t screw this up. And we won’t, right?”

“No, we won’t. Thanks for the help, Danvers.”

“Thanks for the trust, Sawyer.” Alex adjusted her flak jacket. “And since you asked, my B team is my best nerd back in the van. We have him on comms, so you’ll need this.” She handed over a Bluetooth earpiece, the first one Maggie had ever worn that actually fit in her damn ear.

“Welcome to Operation Catnap,” said a male voice over the connection. “You must be the Detective Sawyer I’ve heard–”

“Winn, for the last time we are _not_ calling it that,” Supergirl grumbled.

“Sorry,” he huffed. “Tap your earpiece to talk, Detective. Welcome to the superfriends, I guess.”

Maggie snorted. Seriously?

Danvers shot her an apologetic look. “Ready to go save the most important woman in National City?”

“I think you mean _person_ ,” Maggie answered, grinning through her nerves. “You did all bring masks, right?” Vasquez nodded and pulled on her ski mask. It almost matched Maggie’s own dark green, hastily snagged from a surplus store earlier in the afternoon. “What about her?”

“Supergirl doesn’t need a mask,” Alex pointed out. “And if Cadmus are doing everything we think they are? We want them on notice. Just as soon as we get Cat Grant out of there in one piece.”

“She’s bulletproof,” Maggie shot right back. “What’s your excuse?”

“I’ve got my own beef with Cadmus. I want them to know it was me that screwed their plan all to hell.”

Maggie hated herself for being relieved. Two uncovered faces meant nobody would be looking for the ones in the masks. Letting Danvers paint a big target on her back still gave her a funny twist in the pit of her stomach. She distracted herself by glancing at Alex’s backpack. “Want to share the goodies? I’m feeling a little light here.”

“Fine,” Alex grunted as she pulled the pack off. A glimmer of a smile ghosted across her lips as she rooted through some serious weaponry before handing Maggie a modified sidepiece, and after a moment’s hesitation, a grenade. “Don’t use that unless you’re really out of options.”

Maggie pocketed the grenade, pretending it wasn’t like Christmas morning to get her hands on it. “Sure, of course not. So here’s how we approach…”

***

Alone in the lab as planned, Jeremiah looked down at the security feed he’d wired into the console. He’d conveniently take Cat back to her cell as soon as he saw Maggie, which, if the detective held up her end of the arrangement, would be any moment.

Heart pounding against his ribs, he watched the clock and the camera on the door. Only he could see the live feed, having recorded loops of all the other cameras Maggie would need to pass to get Cat out. Security would never know until it was too late.

“Come on, Sawyer,” he whispered, praying she wouldn’t let him down.

At 9:01, the door swung open, and Jeremiah almost punched the console in relief. He watched Maggie as she inched inside, wisely covering her features with a ski mask. Jeremiah smiled. If she followed the lighted hallways, this would all be over in…

His breath escaped him in a rush when another figure followed the detective inside. _Kara._

“Damn it,” he hissed, even as his heart soared at the sight of her, at knowing he and his adopted daughter were now under the same roof. Frowning, Jeremiah tried to figure out what he should do, how to adapt the plan. He couldn’t risk Kara seeing him, or he’d never be able to get her to leave without him.

If Cat didn’t escape, this would all be for naught. Staying alive this long, enduring Lillian and her cruelties, that had been to keep his girls safe. If they knew after all this time he was alive and held by Cadmus, they would come to save him too. He couldn’t let that happen.

Jeremiah glanced towards Cat, remembering all her fond mutterings about Kara, even during her broken, fitful sleep. There was no choice but to leave her here.

When he looked back at the monitor, he went still.

“Alex,” he whispered, his fingers ghosting over the image of his daughter as she strode after her sister, every bit the warrior. He shouldn’t have been able to tell it was her, not after all these years, but she was the only one of them to look directly into the camera. He’d been there to see those eyes the first moment they opened; how could he not recognize them now? She carried herself like her mother, that slight awkwardness in a slender frame he’d loved in Eliza. Still loved, for all the time and distance, and trying to force himself to forget.

Jeremiah wanted to run to them, pull them both into his arms and never let them go, but he stayed in place as he watched the four of them make their way down the hall. He wasn’t supposed to survive this night, but seeing his daughters made him want to fight, to find another way. Maybe if he went to them now they could find a solution to his bracelet. Even if they couldn’t, it would be worth it to have one last moment with them and go out running for freedom, rather than lying down and waiting to be punished.

As Jeremiah watched, the four women paused in the hallway. Alex gestured for Kara and Maggie to go right while she and the other woman went left into a darkened corridor.

“No!” Jeremiah yelled, startling Cat in her half-conscious state. He had to hope the last cocktail of drugs he planned to give her would obscure her most recent memories, make her forget him and Lillian and let her at least try to return to her life. But he couldn’t worry about that when Alex had just turned straight into danger, triggering security protocols even he hadn’t been able to override.

Sure enough, alarms began to blare. A thud. A moment’s eerie silence.

Then the unmistakable sound of an explosion. Jeremiah cycled through the monitors, but the corridor Alex had run down showed only static.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't forget to leave kudos or a comment if you've enjoyed this chapter of the virtual season. Questions always welcome too!
> 
> Major props to supercattuccino ([ao3](http://archiveofourown.org/users/krystalgoderitch) | [tumblr](http://supercattuccino.tumblr.com/ask)) and spaceshipsarecool ([ao3](http://archiveofourown.org/users/spaceshipsarecool) | [tumblr](http://spaceshipsarecool.tumblr.com/ask)) for their beta work on all episodes so far!


	9. Act X

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coming up in tonight's episode...

Something a bit special from @pinkrabbitpro ([tumblr](http://pinkrabbitpro.tumblr.com) | [ao3](http://archiveofourown.org/users/PinkRabbitPro)). Hit up the comments here or [Tumblr](http://pinkrabbitpro.tumblr.com/ask) to let her know you loved the art!


	10. Act X

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When searching for Cat, the team finds more than they were expecting, and maybe more than they can handle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title gifs created by @xy0009 ([ao3](http://archiveofourown.org/users/xy0009) | [tumblr](http://xy0009.tumblr.com))

There was a muted, wheezing thump from somewhere deep in the walls. Alex moved on instinct, barreling into Vasquez and propelling them both forward and away from the danger. The hallway behind them exploded inward, shaking the whole structure, and they went down in a tangled heap as rocks and concrete rained down around them.

An obnoxious alarm activated as emergency lights sputtered. Coughing weakly, Alex eased up, looking back. The path between her and Kara was completely blocked.

“You okay, ma’am?” Vasquez sat up, her lip bloodied.

Alex nodded, ignoring the ringing in her ears. She tapped her two-way. “Sawyer? Supergirl?” Static crackled back at her and she swore before getting to her feet. Pebbles and dust cascaded off her clothes as she stood. “We’re okay!” she shouted, hoping Kara could hear them. “We’ll find another way out!”

“You think they heard you?”

“I hope so.”

“ _T-minus five minutes,_ ” a voice echoed through the facility, filtering out of embedded speakers.

Alex and Vasquez looked at each other.

“Of course, Cadmus have a self-destruct set up in their creepy underground facility,” Vasquez muttered. “Ma’am, these really are some sons of bitches.”

“That they are, Vasquez. Let’s save the girl and get our asses out of here, because I sure as hell am not giving them the satisfaction of blowing me up twice in one night.”

***

“What the hell was that?” Kara turned on Maggie, who at least had the decency to seem shocked. She cowered slightly under Kara’s cutting gaze. “Did you know that would happen?”

“What? No!”

“If anything’s happened to Alex. If you’re in on this–”

“If I was in on this, I wouldn’t be in a building that _explodes_!” Maggie stared longingly at the door they’d just come through. Fine. Let her run. Kara could do this by herself anyway. She shouldn’t have brought any more fragile humans to slow her down. She clenched her jaw. How could she get both Alex and Cat to safety like this?

“Just stay here and make yourself useful. Try digging through that rubble. I’m not hearing anything from anyone, so they probably can’t hear us either.” Even without her Bluetooth, Kara’s superhearing wasn’t picking up much of anything. Anywhere else she’d be able to hear Alex’s heartbeat, her breathing, even if Alex couldn’t hear her in return. Winn had been right. Whoever built this facility had distorted or dampened the sound.

Maggie gave her a withering look that would have made Cat proud.

“This is Cadmus, Supergirl. Don’t underestimate them. I can guarantee they haven’t underestimated you. Danvers is an agent, and a damn good one; she’ll get herself out. Or it’s already too late. Either way? We need to move.”

Hating to admit Maggie had a point, Kara nodded tightly. She refused to even think about Alex being… No. She needed to focus on the mission. “So, what do you suggest?”

Maggie’s shoulders relaxed slightly. “Can you see anything with your…” She waggled her fingers at Kara’s eyes.

Kara chastised herself for not thinking of that sooner. Her need to find Cat was affecting her judgment, and the alerts announcing _T-minus 5 minutes_ weren’t making it any easier to think straight. “There’s lead in the walls,” Kara realized with a start, proof Maggie was right about Cadmus and their preparations.

“Then we do this the old-fashioned way.” Maggie walked around Kara, her sidearm held like an extension of her body. “Step lightly, Supergirl.” She clicked on her flashlight and descended the darkened stairwell as Kara pursed her lips and followed.

***

“Help is coming,” Jeremiah whispered in Cat’s ear. “You’re going to be okay. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Ms. Grant.”

Still in the thrall of the Mercy, Cat couldn’t distinguish reality from fantasy, the images Cadmus were using to turn her heart and mind against the alien population, against _Kara_ , still flickering rapid fire before her bleary eyes. She couldn’t look away.

Jeremiah’s hand closed over hers for the briefest of moments, his grip strong and callused. Some distant part of her mind tried to thank him but no words passed her lips.

Did he just… was that the prick of a needle in her upper arm? “Let Supergirl come to you.” She tried to turn her head, to see if he was telling the truth, or if Lillian had found a new way to use him against her. “Do you hear me? Let her come to you. It’s not safe.”

The tank sealed, and suddenly it was quiet.

With effort, Cat closed her eyes, clinging tightly to the mental image of Kara. A surge of affection swept through her, bringing tears of relief to her eyes. Cadmus hadn’t taken Kara from her. Not yet. Unless that’s what they wanted her to think. Bring in some Bizarro and test Cat’s loathing for her. Would that make their brainwashing work at last? Would all Cat’s resistance have been for nothing?

Weakly, Cat tried to leverage herself out of the chair, but the restraints held her down as the room spun.

Gunfire echoed suddenly around her. Cadmus were trying to stop Kara, but nothing stopped Kara. Cat knew that all too well. Even if they had a way to hurt her, Cat knew Kara would push through. Nothing would stop her getting to Cat now, if she finally knew Cat was here.

 _Let it be real,_ Cat longed desperately. She could feel the limits of her endurance just in front of her, barely any distance left before mind or body surrendered at last. If she could hold out, if Kara could rescue her at last, then by God, Lillian would pay for every second of this. And Cat would enjoy making her suffer.

And if it was a trick? One last challenge to Cat’s sanity to push her into their thrall? She had her insurance policy pressed between two fingers. It had broken her heart to pry the face from her father’s watch. The last gift he’d given her would now be her last act of resistance in this horror.

The brittle glass had snapped in two so easily, leaving a sharp enough edge to pierce the skin. One way or another, Cat was being removed from Cadmus’s clutches tonight. Either by Kara’s hand, or her own.

Going strangely cold all over, Cat gasped, realizing too late that whatever Jeremiah had injected her with, it wasn’t meant to help or revive her. There was no fighting the drugs as darkness slid over her.

***

_T-minus three minutes._

Kara thought she might throw up. She couldn’t see the green glow, but nothing else made her this weak. There had to be kryptonite in the walls. Maggie raced ahead, kicking doors open with practiced ease, pointing two guns and shouting ‘clear’ each time a cell or closet yielded nothing.

Maggie swung open another door, but this time there was no shout. Instead she darted inside, and Kara fought back against her nausea and forced herself to follow. Another cell, but with signs of occupancy this time. Worn clothes tossed in the corner. Empty water bottles lined up on a ledge carved into the scarred stone wall.

A blanket on the bed, and a hospital pillow. Tangled in the blanket, Kara spotted it. Cat’s favorite watch. The Cartier she’d been given by her father as a graduation present, with its simple mechanism and black leather strap. Cat had watches that cost as much as Kara’s apartment these days, but her father’s watch always stayed in her jewelry rotation. And now here it lay, proof this chase hadn’t been for nothing, that Kara’s mind hadn’t been gripped by paranoia and panic needlessly. Cat was here.

Kara picked it up gingerly, with the care of an archaeologist unearthing a fragile artifact. The glass was missing, but even so, Cat would be relieved when Kara placed it back on her wrist. She just had to find her.

“That hers?” Maggie asked, dragging Kara back towards the door.

Kara nodded, slipping it into the secret pocket in the shoulder of her suit.

“Keep going,” she grunted. Maggie looked at her with concern, or maybe just frustration at having expected help from a superhero and getting this dead weight instead.

Her steps more of a stagger, Kara followed in Maggie’s wake to the last door in the corridor, set further apart from the rest. There might be more levels, but the clock was ticking. Maggie didn’t kick this door, opting to shoulder it instead. The door gave easily.

Not locked. Kara wanted to warn Maggie, tell her open doors meant traps, meant this way was too easy, but Maggie had clearly recognized the same thing.

Maggie drew back, fumbling in the pocket of her jacket for the grenade.

“Insurance,” she explained. “Sometimes you need something with more impact than a bullet.”

“Wait!” Kara took a deep breath, moving closer. The ground became firmer under her feet. She shook her head, clearing some of the mental fog caused by the kryptonite. With each step she grew steadier, more like herself. Whatever kryptonite Cadmus had, they weren’t using it in this room. Testing, she scanned the wall. No lead, and she could see through it. Not very far, just as far as the heavy-duty machinery on the other side, but more than she’d had since they came downstairs.

“She’s here,” Kara decided more than she sensed. “Let me go first.”

“Be my guest,” Maggie mumbled, stepping aside.

Kara pushed the doors open, striding through with every bit of confidence she could muster. She held herself with the posture her mother had taught her, the defiance she saw every day in Alex, and just a hint of the swagger that Cat herself possessed.

Whatever Kara found, she’d be ready.

***

“Ma’am?”

Alex drew up, pivoting to look behind her where Vasquez had frozen in place, her head cocked to the side like a guard dog. “What’s wrong?”

“Do you hear that?”

Frowning, Alex started to say no when she detected a muted thumping, like someone banging their hands on a heavy metal door. “Cat?” She didn’t think so. Cat was too dainty to make that much noise.

“Someone who wants out, that’s for sure.”

They ran out of time to wonder further when a small squad of Cadmus agents rounded the corner and opened fire. Vasquez pulled Alex behind some metal bins as cover, and they picked off each agent with disabling shots, conserving their ammunition.

“All human so far,” Vasquez reported, as they made a run around the fallen hostiles, pausing only to rifle them for compatible cartridges. They reached the end of the corridor, one heavy metal door left to check, when the banging sound grew louder.

“Someone we want to let out?” Alex mused aloud. “Or one of their scary experiments we’ll wish we never met?”

“One way to find out,” Vasquez offered with a shrug, nodding for Alex to shoot the locks while she got into position. Anything running out would be running right down the barrel of Vasquez’s gun.

“On three?” Alex affirmed, before opening fire with abandon. It took five shots to bust both locks, and instead of kicking them off, she used the butt of her regulation-issue rifle. The banging from inside had stopped. Whether in submission or preparing to leap, they couldn’t be sure.

Signaling with her fingers she counted to three, before yanking the door wide.

***

Maggie hung back as Supergirl made her bold entrance. The lab was already deserted, that much was evident. Red lights still flashed, though the alarms were quieter here. A two-way mirror at the back of the room, like the kind in interrogation at the precinct, gave her pause.

“Cat?” Supergirl approached the circular glass wall in the center of the room. More of a prison, on closer inspection. Maggie kept her weapon raised, running her thumb over the textured surface of the grenade. The urge to run burned in the tense muscles of her legs, and every second they lingered was a second too long.

“We have to move!” Maggie yelled as Supergirl stood frozen in front of the glass. Definitely someone inside, images playing on the surface like a giant projection, but Maggie tried not to look too closely. Their time was almost up, and she hadn’t checked to see if other cells were still occupied by the people she’d sent here. That had been her silent promise upon accepting this damn mission, that she’d free those aliens if she could. She sidled up to the superhero, noticing a control panel with leads and tubes running into the glass wall. “Get her,” Maggie urged, flinching back as she saw the rage on Supergirl’s face. That looked a hell of a lot like the woman who’d trashed five city blocks in a fit of superpowered PMS.

“I’ll kill them.”

“Later,” Maggie said, though she understood the urge all too well. In the woman before her, Maggie saw just a little of what the people who supported Cadmus feared. If Supergirl chose to really lose it tonight, there would be nothing Maggie could do to stop her.

The control panel had no papers, no tablets or drives she could see. Clearly, she’d have to do the investigating, and leave the brute force to the Girl of Steel. Supergirl moved at last, finding the seam in the round glass structure and rending it apart with one fast flex of her arms. The shatter was deafening as it fell to the ground.

There, restrained in a horror movie medical chair, sat the woman Maggie had only seen on television and in magazines, looking tiny, fragile, and just broken enough to make Supergirl blast her heat vision directly at the floor.

Should she reach out? Try to calm the hero? Maggie didn’t feel inclined to put herself in any more danger. She fished out a balled-up latex glove from her pocket and used it to carefully pick up a vial of dark liquid off the control panel. Someone had to keep evidence for later, and get them all the hell out of there.

_T-minus two minutes._

***

Kara bit back a sob as Cat was finally revealed to her. A quick sweep with her x-ray vision revealed no broken bones – not one – but the bruises looked angry at her wrists, at those impossibly delicate ankles.

Heart beating? Yes. Weaker than the usual drumbeat that spiked in irritation or excitement around the office, but strong enough.

Breathing? Ragged, too shallow, but enough to keep Cat alive.

The disembodied voice counting down jarred Kara into action, and she stepped into the debris and popped the restraints free, throwing them as far from Cat as she could, her force embedding the metal into the wall. Although her eyes were closed, a tremor of fight still radiated from Cat. She was trying to hold on, and Kara hoped beyond almost anything she’d be able to wake her up properly once they got out of there.

“I’ve got you.” Kara had never been more relieved to say those words. She lifted as delicately as she knew how, under the knees and supporting Cat’s neck. When Kara’s eyes fogged this time, it was with tears, not heat vision. Aware she could move again, Cat lifted her arms with very little strength, just about managing to wrap her hands behind Kara’s neck in response.

“…’ra,” Cat grunted against Kara’s chest. That had better not mean what Kara feared. Instead she turned to Maggie.

“Back the way we came?” Cat was like the finest china in Kara’s grip, cool and breakable. She didn’t know how she was ever going to put her down again. The relief of her living, breathing body so close to Kara’s own came in waves.

“Wait!” Maggie nodded to the mirror. “Anyone back there?”

Kara didn’t waste time scanning, using her heat vision to blast the glass to smithereens. As she did, she saw a tall, stocky man scramble for the floor, disappearing through a trapdoor.

“That way,” Maggie decided, appearing at Kara’s elbow. “When the ship is sinking, follow the rats.”

Kara didn’t have time to argue. Anyone who stopped to fight she would deal with, but she didn’t want to risk going back through kryptonite with Cat in her arms. Handing her off to Maggie was not an option; only medical help would pry Cat from Kara now.

Needing just one arm to keep Cat tethered securely, Kara grabbed Maggie by the collar of her jacket with her other hand and floated them down a level, into an access tunnel.

“Shit, that was cool,” Maggie breathed, before clearing her throat and trying to recover her chill.

“Not as cool as this.” Kara got a tighter grip on Maggie’s leather jacket and sped them to the tunnel exit. Ahead, the man they’d seen running stumbled as he approached the back of an open van, musclebound men reaching out to pull him in. She saw her chance. One blast from her eyes and the gasoline tank would ignite, taking out every one of Cat’s captors in one decisive act. Against everything she stood for, but Rao, the anger was like acid sloshing around in Kara’s stomach. It would be so easy. So easy to show them all what power really was.

She compromised. The rage had built to a point where she had to let something out, and blasting a trench into the ground in front of them sent the thugs scrambling. They answered with fire of their own, but nothing that came close enough to Kara even if they could hurt her.

Then Cat shifted slightly, and Kara realized she couldn’t continue to make herself a target with Cat so fragile in her arms. The woman who’d defended her to the city time and again wouldn’t be able to defend Kara if she did take another shot and set fire to the gas tank after all. She didn’t want to be something Cat would be ashamed of when she regained consciousness. Blinking back the heat in her eyes, Kara saw the last man they’d been chasing stand up to pull the doors closed.

For a moment…

No. She just wanted it too much. It couldn’t be her foster father, couldn’t be Jeremiah. Not running from her, not one of them. The black door of the van slammed shut as the tires spun before getting a grip on the gravel-strewn wasteland. Kara noticed the three of them were still too close to the structure, so she took hold and vaulted them up and over the fence.

“Jesus, are you ever going to warn me?” Maggie groused, staggering a few steps after they landed and Kara let go. She snatched her ski mask off, raking a hand through her hair.

“Supergirl?” Winn’s voice crackled back into Kara’s ear. She sagged in exhausted relief a moment later when Alex stomped all over protocol to yell at them all.

“Are we all clear?” Alex demanded.

“Clear,” Maggie confirmed. “And we got who we came for.”

“Alex–” Kara’s voice cracked. They’d done it. The most important save outside of Myriad, and she’d done it.

“Supergirl, do not – repeat do not – leave this site,” Alex warned. “Report back to the van. Sawyer, thanks for your help.”

“Like hell,” Maggie grumbled, and Kara shot her a sympathetic look. She knew all too well what it was like to be shut out after the main event.

“Cat’s not conscious,” Kara said. “I’m taking her to the DEO.”

“No!” Alex barked. “Meet us at the van, there’s something you need to see.”

It went against every instinct for Kara not to get Cat medical attention immediately, but she knew better than to ignore that tone from Alex. Something was wrong. Kara floated down the alleyway to reach their agreed rendezvous. All the better not to jostle Cat too much. As the dark buildings loomed over them on either side, Maggie scurried to keep up, an eerie hush falling over them right before the explosion shook the ground under their feet.

Maggie swore, and they both turned to stare, stunned by the destruction. Flames shot skyward, some tinged with green, as the structure collapsed in on itself with a roar. Kara winced. No one would have survived that, probably not even herself with that much kryptonite.

She turned away, squeezing Cat just a little tighter as they made their way to Alex, Winn and Vasquez.

“What is it?” Kara snapped, eager to get Cat to safety. “Look at her, Alex, I have to go.”

“We found someone else.” Always first with the situation report, Vasquez stood to attention with her weapon still readied. Her mask was gone, dirt streaking her face and fatigues. “You’re gonna want to see this, ma’am.”

Hope soared in Kara’s chest. “Jeremiah?” Her sister only shook her head, standing aside to reveal their other rescue, head bowed as he sat unsteadily on the back bumper of the van.

Kara froze, not quite believing her eyes. “J’onn? But how…?”

“Cadmus grabbed him ten days ago,” Alex explained, mouth pinched tight in anger.

“But that means–”

“The DEO is compromised,” Alex seethed. “And the man in charge is not J’onn J’onzz.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't forget to leave kudos or a comment if you've enjoyed this chapter of the virtual season. Questions always welcome too!
> 
> Major props to supercattuccino ([ao3](http://archiveofourown.org/users/krystalgoderitch) | [tumblr](http://supercattuccino.tumblr.com/ask)) and spaceshipsarecool ([ao3](http://archiveofourown.org/users/spaceshipsarecool) | [tumblr](http://spaceshipsarecool.tumblr.com/ask)) for their beta work on all episodes so far!


	11. Next week, on Episode 2 (Harbor)

---  
  
## NEXT WEEK ON SUPERGIRL VIRTUAL SEASON!

As Cat recovers from her ordeal at Cadmus, she has a shocking request for the DEO, and the chance to learn more about Krypton than she ever imagined.

A choice opens old wounds between Kara and Clark, and it could also tear the Danvers sisters apart.

Don’t miss episode 2 – Harbor! Beginning Monday on the [Supergirl Virtual Season](http://archiveofourown.org/users/sgvirtualseason)! 

Special thanks to @reginalovesemma ([ao3](http://archiveofourown.org/users/reginalovesemma) | [tumblr](http://reginalovesemma.tumblr.com)) for the lovely gifset!! You can leave comments about it here, or hit the [tumblr ask box](http://reginalovesemma.tumblr.com/ask). 


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